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Exciting News from the Florida Institute | June Newsletter

Building Companies, Changing Lives

Issue 55 - June 2017

Two Companies Receive Institute Funding

The Institute has finalized first-round funding agreements with Multicore Photonics, an Oviedo-based company with technology developed at the University of Central Florida, and FreshSurety, an Altamonte Springs-based Internet of Things (IoT) company with technology developed at the University of Florida.

Multicore Photonics develops next generation industrial sensors that use light to monitor physical processes and environmental conditions such as temperature, pressure, chemical, flow, and structural conditions. The company specializes in the design and packing of commercially scalable direct OEM replacement fiber optic sensors and instrumentation, with applications across a broad range of industry sectors.

FreshSurety focuses on increasing retail sales margins by using IoT technology to report real-time freshness based on produce respiration rates, for individual produce cartons anywhere in the world at a few cents per case. This provides retailers and producers with up-to-date shelf life information, enabling them to market higher quality products with less waste. Low-cost wireless sensor networks provide detailed, actionable information throughout the supply chain, recording and reporting location, temperature, and freshness every ten minutes from pallet assembly to disassembly.

Peerfit, providers of a digital platform that makes it easy for insurance carriers, brokers and employers to offer boutique fitness classes to their clients and employees, has closed a $2.3 million bridge round. Investors in the round included notable business leaders as well as healthcare and digital health veterans. Jeff Vinik, owner of the Tampa Bay Lightning NHL team and Chris Sullivan, founder of Outback Steakhouse are among those who invested. Colliers International Florida Executive Chairman Lee Arnold, a longtime technology investor, led the round along with investors through Florida Funders’ online investing platform. The company was originally funded by the Institute in 2015.

Vigiliant Biosciences Receives Grant Award

Vigilant Biosciences, Inc., a leading innovator and developer of solutions that aid in the early detection and intervention of cancer, has received an award as part of a multi-million dollar grant from the National Institutes of Health to fund research in support of a novel point of care test to improve early identification of oral and oropharyngeal cancer. The five-year study will enroll 300 mouth and throat cancer patients and control subjects in a multi-institutional setting. Institutions participating in the study include UC San Diego (UCSD) Department of Surgery, New York University, John Hopkins and Greater Baltimore Medical Center. Vigilant Biosciences’ accurate, cost-effective tests can benefit every adult, with particular emphasis on high-risk populations (i.e., current and former tobacco users, those who consume excessive alcohol, and people with human papillomavirus).

TRCG Advisors, a market leader in assisting small and middle market companies with capturing R&D tax credits, has renewed its Platinum Level membership in the Institute’s Leadership Council. TRCG has helped clients in a variety of industries to claim these credits, which provide a multitude of benefits for taxpayers, including an efficient opportunity for cash recovery, permanent tax benefits, reduction in effective tax rates, flexible utilization and state and local benefits.

Working directly with clients and their CPAs, TRCG has delivered successful R&D studies for clients across a wide spectrum of industries and business models. TRCG has structured its R&D Credit Service to meet challenges commonly experienced by young and growing companies, and its team is comprised of some of the leading experts in the field of R&D incentives, having executed over 1,000 unique tax incentive engagements successfully. More information may be viewed here.

How can emerging companies collaborate with large hospital systems to develop and commercialize healthcare solutions? Join the panel discussion in downtown Orlando on June 28th from 11:45am - 1:15pm with Complimentary Lunch. Presented by Florida Hospital’s Health Village and Florida Hospital’sAlliance & Innovation eXchange and GrayRobinson, P.A., the panel will discuss business, scientific/technical, legal and government affairs channels towards innovative solutions. Click here to register for the panel discussion today!

Save the Date for 2017 BioFlorida Annual Conference

Join BioFlorida for the 2017 Annual Conference being held on October 15-17, 2017 at the Vinoy Renaissance St. Petersburg Resort and Golf Club. BioFlorida attracts the largest and most prestigious life sciences community in the state, and it is at this Conference that attendees will connect with more than 400 life science professionals from Florida and throughout the country. More details and event registration may be viewed here.

The six-day ACE 8 tour will bring together representatives from over 27 countries around the world to showcase advanced technology centers, innovation hubs, public-private partnerships and strategic investments. The itinerary will include sites that feature agricultural, advanced manufacturing, aerospace, tourism, magnetics and other clusters, as well as every major university in Florida. More details may be viewed here.

About Us

Formed by the Florida Legislature in 2007, the Florida Institute for the Commercialization of Public Research is a non-profit organization that works collaboratively with the technology licensing and commercialization offices of Florida’s state universities and private research institutions to leverage a $2.5B+ research base and form investable companies that create clean jobs in new industries that are driving the global economy. The Institute provides company building services, and seed funding through the Florida Technology Seed Capital Fund, to promising Florida startups. Seventy-one companies have been funded to date, and the Institute’s economic impact through June 30, 2016 was $630 million, with an annual return on investment of 22 times to the State of Florida.